The use of pressure sensitive tape is and has been for many years very common in the packaging industries. The tape being applied is usually dispensed from a tape roll. There are two main categories of tape roll sizes available, namely;                1. For use in manual tape application with a tape dispenser or hand applicator which is restricted in the size and weight as required for ease of handling are generally classified as “Hand rolls” and have a roll size that will usually provide about 100 meters tape length        2. For automatic tape application by a taping machine equipped with a tape head the tape rolls generally referred to as “Machine rolls” have a roll size that will provide from 1000 to 2000 meters of tape.        
The Machine roll has significant advantage over Hand roll based on the 10 to 1 ratio in tape length tape as roll replenishment is reduced by a factor of at least 9 times thereby reducing production down time. The larger roll also results in more consistent taping performance since most taping problems occurred towards the end or depletion of the roll i.e. when the diameter of the roll has been significantly reduced. The cost per linear length of the tape is also reduced when the Machine roll is used as opposed to the Manual roll as the number of paper cores is used is significantly reduced and both the manufacturing and the shipping costs are reduced.
It is estimated 50 percent packaging tape consumers are restricted to Hand rolls since an automatic taping machine is not feasible for their particular operations. In spite of the economic advantages of the much larger Machine rolls, purchasing and using an automatic taping machine is not justifiable for taping operations that tape less than about 500 cartons a day and automatic taping machines do not lend themselves to intermittent production and/or different sizes of cartons to be taped. Furthermore automatic taping machines require a conveyor to transport the carton through a stationery tape applicator generally referred to as a tape head that applies tape dispensed from a station tape roll and requires a significant amount of space. Manual taping generally applies tape to a stationery carton by manually moving a hand applicator with a Hand roll (as required to ensure the hand applicator is not too heavy to maneuvered manually) and lends itself to do the operations that are not economically or easily accomplished by automatic machines.
Manual tape applicators as currently know in addition to requiring the more expensive tape (per lineal meter of tape) are also, to a significant degree, limited by the dexterity of the operator for alignment, accuracy and speed of application. The present invention alleviates many of the short comings of the manual applicators